Loosely defined as the art of today or the art of our lifetime, the term “contemporary art” is usually used more specifically to describe artworks created since the 1980s or 1990s. For collection purposes, the Frye Art Museum currently delineates the scope as 1990 to the present.
In the more general sense, the Frye has collected and exhibited contemporary—or contemporaneous—art since its opening in 1952. This commitment to the art and culture of the present was catalyzed by Museum founders Charles and Emma Frye, who amassed a collection of paintings made within their own lifetimes and often purchased works directly from living artists. Over the last seven decades, directors of the Museum have each brought their own interests and interpretations to bear on the Frye’s engagement with contemporary art and thereby shaped a distinctive collection.
Prior to the tenure of Elsa “Midge” Bowman (Director, 2004–09), and often counter to dominant trends in art of the time, the Frye’s leadership focused exclusively on exhibiting and collecting representational art, citing Charles and Emma Frye’s preferences for figurative and landscape painting. Under Bowman’s direction, the exhibitions program at the Frye expanded into areas like video art and performance that questioned and upended the definition of representational art. In 2008, the Museum’s mission was revised to embrace art in its myriad forms. The Frye’s contemporary art collection has grown significantly since that time, reflecting the diversity of the institution’s engagement with local, national, and international artists working today.
Gallery with TriptychStan Washburn
Birmingham (center)Toyin Ojih Odutola
Afternoon NapVictoria Browning Wyeth
Birmingham (right)Toyin Ojih Odutola
Portrait of Mrs. GreathouseDel Gish
this trembling turf (the shallows)Mary Ann Peters
Prayer Before the NightHenk Pander
UntitledKo Kirk Yamahira
The Dorothy K: Small Ether MachineImplied Violence
Lot 248 (still)Amie Siegel
Panthrastic Harp ZitherDegenerate Art Ensemble
TrapDuane Linklater
UntitledIsaac Layman
Still Lives: ExposureSusie J. Lee
Tradition as Adaptive StrategyMatt Browning
Landscape with ChadAnne Fenton
Physical PlantWilliam Allik
Untitled (XIV)Rafael Soldi
Instead of Going Forward, Going BackRobert Schwartz
EidolonCris Bruch
Cherry PieGeorge Fischer
Hedonic Reversal #7Rodrigo Valenzuela
Sea BreezePeter Poskas
Chemically TannedAlison Bremner
The WaitCarol Mothner
Du jaroj da seksa perforto kontrau virinaj Egiptaj manifestaciantoj, kaj jam ni portas trancilojn en la stratoj...Ellen Lesperance
Between Life and LifeWill Barnet
Birmingham (left)Toyin Ojih Odutola
Hedonic Reversal #15Rodrigo Valenzuela
Pink on Black GroupKatherine Bradford
ButterflyBony Ramirez
Madrone + MullanSadie Wechsler
Mangahufo' I famaguonGisela McDaniel
Night ForestAnn Leda Shapiro
Three SlicesAmoako Boafo
Black Face Red Bone with Black BobTschabalala Self
Black Face with Wide ChestTschabalala Self
Blue-Eyed SusanAndrew Wyeth
Becoming MineralClarissa Tossin
Pumpkin PeopleJamie Wyeth
Great NotionsByron Bratt
Family TidesMark Spencer
Chest Harp 1Degenerate Art Ensemble
UntitledMark Calderon
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Ama-Ibi WokomaInye Wokoma
Hedonic Reversal #8Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.2Jimmy Jet
Bamboo No.18Barbara Noah
Dress for SuccessRose Nestler
Love CyclamenMarilyn Schutzky
Engine 55, East Broome StreetFrederick Brosen
Large Red Poppies IGary Bukovnik
Chest Harp 2Degenerate Art Ensemble
RiverTim Lowly
EcdysisIshmael Butler
Hedonic Reversal #9Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.3Gene Gentry McMahon
Bamboo No.19Rebecca Struck
Strange BusinessRose Nestler
Halibut CoveTed Rand
Horse IJoe Andoe
Sketch of Mrs. GreathouseDel Gish
Untitled (Nail Harp)Degenerate Art Ensemble
Withered Lotus Cast in IronPan Gongkai
Dawn in LuxorKahlil Joseph
Hedonic Reversal #10Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.4Mrs. Crispwick
Bamboo No.20Fay Jones
Portrait of Erwin WurmJoseph Park
Basket of Flowers - Summer '91Rosalyn Gale Powell
Horse IIJoe Andoe
Sketch of Mrs. GreathouseDel Gish
DeerlegsDegenerate Art Ensemble
Alice™ (you don’t have to think about it)Kahlil Joseph
Hedonic Reversal #11Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.5Scott Smith
Bamboo No.21Michael Spafford
FormationKelly Akashi
Ogle's SamovarTake Hama
Seated FigureRaoul F. Middleman
Study for Bridal Registry: June WeddingAndrew Raftery
Cuckoo Crow: TransformationDegenerate Art Ensemble
Eclipse Tower 1Web Crowell and Stacey Levine
Hedonic Reversal #12Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.6T. Michael Gardiner
Bamboo No.22Karen Guzak
Allegory of the Raging SunKat Lyons
Four WorkersJohn McIver
UntitledRobert McCurdy
Study for Bridal Registry: Christmas DecorationsAndrew Raftery
UntitledIsaac Layman
Be the First To Review The B83Steve Fisk
Hedonic Reversal #13Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.7Dennis Evans
Bamboo No.23George Tsutakawa
After Boucher: UntitledMolly Jae Vaughan
Side Road Landscape, 1994William Beckman
Giglio SundayDoug Safranek
Still Life with KumquatsJames Aponovich
El Sisifo (The Sisyphus)Rodrigo Valenzuela
An Agnostic ManifestoLesley Hazleton
Hedonic Reversal #14Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.8Jeffrey Bishop
Bamboo No.24Gayle Bard
Ear (Good)Srijon Chowdhury
Bear IconLeslie Morgan
Via del PantheonWilliam H. Bailey
History LessonBo Bartlett
Hedonic Reversal #1Rodrigo Valenzuela
Sonnet ManifestoPaul Mullin
Hedonic Reversal #16Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.9Mare Blocker
Bamboo No.25Carolyn Law
Stylite AltarpieceEden Seifu
Hercules at the CrossroadsDavid Ligare
Lilith and WomanLilian Broca
David Horsey's Expanding UniverseDavid Horsey
Specular ReflectionsLeo Berk
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Daye WokomaInye Wokoma
Hedonic Reversal #17Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.10Virginia Paquette
Bamboo No.26Nancy Mee
Ground of GroundHarry Gould Harvey IV
La Clairière (The Meadow)Richard C. Whitten
World of WondersStephen Fisher
Beltway ApocalypseDavid Horsey
ClinkersLeo Berk
Wind JangleLeo Berk
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Versa RuffInye Wokoma
Window InstallationBuster Simpson
Bamboo No.11Mauricio Robalino
Adam and Eve DressedJanette K. Hopper
For FunKhari Johnson-Ricks
Clayoquot DugoutsJean-Claude Michel
FireLisa Zwerling
Curse You, Peter Pan...!David Horsey
Not Waving, but DrowningJeffry Mitchell
Avatar: Fanon & DeccaC. Davida Ingram
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Yirim SeckInye Wokoma
Painted SilhouetteBuster Simpson
Bamboo No.12C.T. Chew
Disaster KitchenMolly Zuckerman-Hartung
Voices of the Ancestors: People of the First ManHarry Pattison
SeerRuth Weisberg
Ode to Octavia Part 12: (Sparkles)...Recollections of the WraithThe Black Constellation
Hedonic Reversal #2Rodrigo Valenzuela
Street ActionBuster Simpson
Bamboo No.13Jose Rodriguez Guerra
From Sea to DawnRamin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian
Baby BlueAmoako Boafo
Wild Rose LardLucille Hulburt
My MotherWilliam Beckman
Little Meat ThiefMark Ryden
Ode to Octavia: Neo-Ancient TaliswomanThe Black Constellation
Frank in the 3rd DimensionJim Woodring
Hedonic Reversal #3Rodrigo Valenzuela
This Is Who We AreInye Wokoma
Bamboo No.14Robert Kraftt
Snowflake Drawing #5 (Double Lotus Pod)Jeffry Mitchell
The UnknownOtis Kwame Kye Quaicoe
Cloud Reflections on Puget SoundRobert Connell
Cat Bates of MonheganJamie Wyeth
Flying Female #4Michael Bergt
The Dorothy K: Bow DressImplied Violence
Ode to Octavia: Cranium Adornment #5The Black Constellation
Hedonic Reversal #4Rodrigo Valenzuela
The Pig Went Down to the Harbor and Wept #6Jim Woodring
Bamboo No.15George Chacona
To a FlameAnthony White
Persian PeaceConnie Hertner
IRT #7Steven Assael
Palouse Pattern IIIRobert Weingarten
The Dorothy K: Large ClawImplied Violence
Landscape #7Matt Browning
Occasional PoemsMaged Zaher
Hedonic Reversal #5Rodrigo Valenzuela
Bamboo No.16Julie Paschkis
Untitled (Badlands)Juventino Aranda
Windy DayPeter Sculthorpe
Stereoscopic ViewerByron Bratt
UntitledJudith Glantzman
Cuckoo Crow: HatchlingDegenerate Art Ensemble
Get up!Anne Focke
ProleRodrigo Valenzuela
Hedonic Reversal #6Rodrigo Valenzuela
Waves FloaterRomero Britto
Bamboo No.17Lockwood Dennis
EgungunCauleen Smith
